Category Archives: Software and Technology

Too many small businesses and start-ups overlook the importance of having the right domain name. If you pick one that’s not really related to your business, you’re going to have trouble ranking in search engines. When you buy your domain name, think carefully about what you want to say and what kind of web hosting you need in order to optimize your business. Ideally, you can get your domain name and your hosting through the same company, which makes things easier. Some people use different companies, though, which can certainly be done. Once you buy the domain name, it’s yours – just don’t forget to renew it. Some companies that host sites and/or sell domains have an ‘auto-renew’ feature, which is a good idea to use.

That way you won’t have to worry about forgetting to renew your domain name. You won’t suddenly wake up to find out that your site has gone away because your domain expired. If that happens, someone else might buy it and you would lose out. You don’t want that to be the case, so take the time to be responsible and set things up the right way.

The more automated the process is, the better – it’s less that you have to fret about and cuts down on the number of mistakes that could potentially be made with your domain name. Another thing to consider with a domain name is how close it is to something else. If it could cause a lot of confusion – especially with a competitor or some kind of site that you don’t want to be associated with – you might want to consider choosing something else. You don’t want your site’s domain name to be only a couple of letters different from a popular ‘adult’ site, for example. That could lead to too many embarrassing moments with vendors and clients. Research the domain name you’re thinking of, as well as variations and other options. Then you can come up with the best domain name choice for your business.

When you’re planning on starting up a website, you don’t want to just throw something together. It’s a much better idea to take your time and determine the right look, layout, host, size, and other information. That way you know you’ll be getting something good – and something that’s as close to what you had in mind as possible. Don’t settle for something you don’t want when it comes to things like a domain name and the hosting for your site. Settling means you won’t get what you really need, and your customers might not be as happy as they could have been, either.

When looking for a host, be sure to ask plenty of questions. Some charge more than others, but what you are getting for the money? If you’re getting a lot more, it could still be a good value. It doesn’t have to be the least expensive thing you can find for the value to be good. It can also be determined by how much you’re getting for the amount you’re paying. However, that doesn’t mean you should use the most expensive host because you get a lot of features. Are you really going to use those features? If you’re not, they don’t add value and you’re simply paying too much.

Think carefully about your needs and the needs and desires of your customers when choosing a domain name and deciding who will host your website. It’s important that you get it right the first time, because it can be difficult to change it later and still keep your customers on board. If they don’t like their first experience with your website, they may decide that they just don’t want to give you another chance, no matter what kinds of changes you decide to make in the future.

Depending on who’s hosting your site, one of the advantages may be a site design that you can get quickly and easily. In the past, you needed to know HTML code so you could build a site. You uploaded files, wrote code into the site, and tested it out until you got what you were looking for. You can still do things that way, but it’s much easier to use a template from your hosting company. For example, many companies have hosting packages where you can choose from several pre-created templates. You pick the one you like, type in the text, and your site is done. Of course, there are limitations with this, as well.

There are some things you just can’t add, and you can only choose from so many colors and styles. If you don’t like what’s offered or the templates won’t work with your style or plan for some reason, you’ll have to choose something you don’t care for as well or pay someone to create a custom site for you. While prices for custom site creation have come down, it can still be costly. That’s part of the reason why a lot of people are just using the templates that come with their hosting packages.

There’s more choices for these than you might expect, so make sure you check into them and choose the host that has the template you want. Your site should be a reflection of you and what you have to offer, so you want to convey the proper message. You can do that by getting the right template with the right color scheme, look, and feel. You can also modify the templates to a certain degree with some hosting companies, but if you make a mistake you could have a real problem with your site that may cost you money to fix.

With so many companies offering web hosting services today, you’ll find that prices and features really vary. The same is true with things like customer service, which can be very good at some companies and almost non-existent at others.

Keep that in mind when you look for a company to host your site and domain name. Remember, though, that you don’t always get what you pay for. Some of the better companies for a lot of small business and personal site hosting are some of the less expensive ones. That’s generally because people who have these kinds of sites don’t need a lot of customer service interaction, so they don’t have to worry about whether they can reach someone at all hours of the day or night. Of course, you don’t want a cheap hosting company that absolutely doesn’t care at all about customer service. That’s a poor choice for anyone, because there won’t be anyone around to help you when you do need it.

You can avoid that pretty easily, though, by checking out what others have to say about a hosting company. Reviews are often mixed, but you can generally separate out realistic reviews from some of the snide comments and angry people who want to destroy a company’s reputation over one mistake. You can also ask a question of the hosting company through it’s email or contact form, and see how long it takes to get a response – and what kind of response you get.

These can be important factors. Often, the cheaper companies are just as good for smaller hosting issues than the more expensive ones. If you have a large, complex business with a large, complex website, things may be very different and you’ll want to look at the more expensive companies. They provide more features, but most of them are not needed by small companies.

Depending on what kind of business you do, you might want to consider using your name as your domain name. Large businesses rarely do this, but smaller companies – and sole proprietors – often do. It’s more common with musicians, writers, and artists, but there’s no reason that other businesses can’t follow that lead. When you get your domain name, it’s mostly about building a brand. What do you want your brand to say? Do you want to be known by name, or would you prefer to be in the background? Thinking about these kinds of questions can help you decide on the right name for your domain. You don’t have to decide right away.

Take some time to research domain names and web hosting, so you have all the information you need to make the right choice. If you do decide to use your name as your domain, be sure which variation you want to use. Do you go by a nickname? Is your name easily misspelled? What do people looking for you find if they use the most common misspellings? It’s important to know these kinds of things, because you don’t want your name and brand to become wrongly associated with something unsavory.

That would be bad for business, and could also be humiliating for you. It could also be hard to downplay and recover from when looked at from a business standpoint. There’s much more to consider than just having your name as your domain name. As nice as that would look to you, you’ll need to make sure that it’s the right choice. When you’re interested in a domain name, be sure to find out about web hosting, too. If you can find a company that you like and that offers both, it can make things easier and more streamlined for you. Of course, you have plenty of options for how you want to host your domain, so take the time to learn about all of them. That way you can pick and choose until you get the one that’s the best for you.